There were about 7.8 million part-time workers who would rather be working full-time as of January, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a whopping 65 percent increase over a year earlier and about the same as the previous month.
The sharpest increase in the number of so-called “involuntary” part-time workers has come since the financial crisis hit full force in September, leaving many scared corporate executives anxious to save money wherever possible — including on payroll.
“Companies were very quick to pull the trigger on cutting everything,” said Ken Mayland, an economist with ClearView Economics.
A steep rise in the number of involuntary part-time workers is typical in any recession, because companies tend to cut workers’ hours before laying them off completely. This time around, economists say that, so far at least, the grim numbers aren’t really surprising given the state of the economy.
In fact, Di Natale said, the percentage of part-time workers who would like to be working full-time, currently at about 29 percent, is actually lower than during the height of the recession in the early 1980s.
Of course I read this in a wider context with the job cuts announced by General Motors and Chrysler
The GM job cuts include 10,000 salaried and 37,000 blue-collar positions, amounting to 19 percent of its current global work force of 244,500. A total 26,000 of the cuts will come from outside the U.S. The cuts would take place by the end of this year.
The new plan has the U.S. work force declining from about 92,000 hourly and salaried employees at year-end 2008 to 72,000 by 2012 — about a 20 percent cut.
GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said the plan submitted Tuesday is more aggressive than the one presented to the government on Dec. 2 because the global economy and auto sales have deteriorated in the time that has passed since then.
"Today’s plan is significantly more aggressive because it has to be," Wagoner told reporters. "We have taken stronger actions, we needed to."
Chrysler had 54,007 employees at the end of 2008, so Tuesday’s cuts would equal about 6 percent.
Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler said the economy and the market for new cars has deteriorated significantly since its initial request. Chrysler said it now projects that automakers will sell 10.1 million vehicles in the U.S. this year, the lowest level in four decades.Chrysler will eliminate the Dodge Aspen, Durango and Chrysler PT Cruiser, according to company president Jim Press. GM said it plans to sell or spin-off its Saturn brand. If those attempts are unsuccessful, GM will phase out the brand.
GM is also evaluating options for a sale of its Hummer division and sought buyers for its Saab unit. Selling or eliminating those brands would leave GM to focus on Chevrolet, Cadillac, GMC and Buick, with Pontiac reduced to one or two models.
First of all, I haven’t even heard of a Dodge Aspen until right now (although apparently is called a Chrysler Aspen and is just a Dodge Durango with a new logo on it).
Secondly while it really is horrible to have your hours cut back, not cutting back quickly enough has been a big mistake of a lot of businesses and the automakers are a prime example. Since I was a kid I have been hearing that General Motors had too many brands and while I am glad they are keeping Pontiac, why couldn’t they have made these kinds of cuts before now.
Whenever I read about job cuts in the auto industry I think back to the book, The Fifth Discipline and think of an anecdote told by Peter Senge about how hard it is to retrain autoworkers where so much of their identity is tied up in their profession, trade, and company. I wonder how many of those jobs that are lost are going to be able to transition into something else or if we are going to see a whole bunch of Flint, Michigan type of cities across the Midwest.
Mr. Cooper, Thanks for your mention of Flint, Michigan, in your recent blog post on the auto industry. We wanted to point out that while it’s true Flint has gone through a transition due to changes in the auto industry, we are a community on the rebound with many positive attributes, including excellent parks, museums and cultural activities. Our downtown also is experiencing an impressive revival with many new businesses, restaurants, apartment lofts and college-student housing being built and opened. If you want to learn more about Flint, Mich., and the surrounding Genesee County area visit our Web site, http://www.visitflint.org, or become a member of our Facebook page “Discover Flint and Genesee County Michigan”. Thanks for your time and feel free to share this with your readers. Please contact me if you have any questions or would like to learn more about our area.
Also, from the photos posted on your blog it looks like you have an interest in antique autos. We have two museums here in Flint with an impressive vintage car collection – Sloan Museum (http://sloanmuseum.com) and the Buick Gallery and Research Center (http://www.sloanmuseum.com/buick_gallery.html). I think you would enjoy a stop at either museum if you visit the Flint area.
Matt Bach
Public relations manager
Flint Area Convention and Visitors Bureau
Direct line: 810.767.8182
e-mail: mbach@flint.travel
Our Web site: http://www.visitflint.org
[...] other day I took a shot at Flint, Michigan in a blog post and the next day I got a friendly comment from someone who works for Flint Tourism pointing out that I may have over looked some of Flint’s characteristics. Now I [...]
Dear Mr. Bach and Mr. Cooper,
Thank you both for highlighting two of North America’s smaller and lesser known cities. I would like to invite you both to Danville, California. Besides being the home of two champions, Sully, and my Son, Danville is also home to two Auto Museums. The well known Blackhawk Museum is worth a visit, despite not having a Buick Blackhawk. Perhaps Mr. Bach can drive one down here? If so, pick up Jordon and Mark on the way.
The lesser known one is the O’Dorney Rolling Museum, featuring a 1986 Nissan, 1990 Celica, and 1997 Volvo. Unlike the larger museum down the road, visitors can touch and even drive all the cars, admission is free and not only that, includes a free 20 percent off coupon at Harbor Freight (if you get here by Monday) and a roll of duct tape (also from Harbor Freight.) And a free ride on BART, our local subway, which includes free newspapers, umbrellas and pillows (and gloves, if you aren’t too picky about having them match.)
Saskatoon and Flint ! Cheers to two great cities!